JamLegend
JamLegend is a free online music game that is published by Foobrew and created by Andrew Lee, Arjun Lall, and Ryan Wilson. A monthty membership was introduced for additional benefits. The game simulates the thrill of rocking out for a sold out crowd while enabling features never before available in any other music video game. The mainframe of the game is programmed using two progamming languages which are Java and Flex. The front end pages you view are displayed using Adobe Flash Player. The minimal requirements are having the latest version of Adobe Flash Player installed which can be downloaded at the [http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ Adobe Website]. History The company launched it's website on August 26, 2008, JamLegend was created and it began a private beta. The link to opt into the private beta: http://www.jamlegend.com/register/AEF was sent via email, to many. Several months after, JamLegend became an open-public beta on December 4, 2008 and a Official Trailer was made shortly after. The site is consistently being updated with new songs, artists and features. Gameplay Keyboard or Guitar The game can either be played using a keyboard or a plastic guitar. If you use a keyboard, you can start playing immediately. If you own a plastic guitar, you connect it to your computer by following this tutorial: Playing with guitar controllers. If you don't have one, flip your keyboard around and tilt it. This will only work with desktop computers, not laptops unless you have another keyboard you can plug in. I'm not really sure about keyboard guitar. Fixing Notes In music, a note represents a sound or a pitch. Two or more notes side by side is called a string. Notes may be needed to be held down for a given period of time. Notes scroll down a vertical track or extended guitar neck in three to five rows according to the rhythm of the song. When a note aligns with the bar at the bottom of the screen, you must strum and press the corresponding key. Notes with white sparkles on them are called hammer ons and pull offs. If you hit the previous note, you do not need to strum these notes. When you hit a note successfully, your streak and score will increase. These notes are worth 50 points towards your score. After hitting several notes successfully, your Multiplier will increase, and the amount of points that each note is worth will increase. The Jam Meter rests to the left of the track. It is shaped like a half moon and is divided into three quadrants: green, yellow and red. If you are successfully hitting a lot of notes, it will point towards the green, yellow if your not doing too bad and red if your missing a lot of notes; therefore, you should start hitting notes or else you will fail the song. The Progress Monitor rests to the right of the track. It tracks your score as well as the bot or other online players as you play the song. Each person has their own pointer with their name on it. It also shows the highest possible score and if you aren't playing with the bot, it will suggest a goal based on how well you play. Not sure about this name ^ Songs There are a total of 673 Songs and 245 Artists as of September 6, 2009. All of the songs and artists have been listed here: Songs and Artists. You can also view the official song and artist lists here: Official Song List and Artist List. The ones posted here take less loading time and are easily sortable. Instruments and Difficulty Once you have chosen a song, you will need to select an instrument. You can only play Guitar and BeatJam at the moment but other instruments will be added at a later time. The main difference between the two is strumming. Options The game options can be accessed in the menu bar near the top of the screen or before starting a song.You can configure the keys you use to play notes, turn off three note cords or change the volume of the crowd you hear during a song. This does not include the default configuration provided; however, it cannot be changed. Once you've done changing you settings, press save or restore defaults if you'd like to revert back to the default settings. Points and Achievemnts When you invite a friend to create an account at JamLegend though your referral link, you be come the head of the band called the Band Manager and they become your band members called Managed Talent. The Band Manager earns a small percentage of what their Band Members earn and 500 bonus Xp once they reach level 2. If did not get invited though a referral link, you cannot have a Band Manger or become Managed Talent. Every time you play a song, you earn ladder points which gives a general idea of your skill level. If you are consistent of doing well in a song, it will increase but if you are doing worse than usual, it will decrease. You earn Ladder Points simply by playing song. You will often see a goal score set for you when you play a song, if you beat your goal you will earn more ladder points. If you don't, you will lose some. You start off at a level 1 ranking with 0 Experience Points or Xp as some call it. You gain them after a song depending on your song score. A glowing colorful circle with a question mark is placed randomly along the track of a song. You hit these like regular notes but they will give you x2 to x5 the number Experience Points or Xp instead. Achievements are a mark of accomplishment after you have completed a specific task or reached a certain goal and there are currently 48 to unlock. This includes but limited to song, social and any other multiplayer related. Each achievement is worth a number of points called Groupies and there is a total of 1764. Duels After you have finished a song, you can challenge a friend or another 'JamLegend player by click on the duel button but you must be logged in to use this feature. This will let the other player see your score and be able to play the same song and difficulty to try and beat your score. There is a Showdowns None Account Type Alongside the free version of the game, you can also buy a monthly membership for additional benefits. You can upgrade your account to either Pro or Pro Plus by paying with JamCash. $4.99 is worth 4,000 JamCash and $9.99 is worth 8,000 JamCash. If it's included in the game it will have a: but if only some aspects are included it will have a: 1 "Guitar Hero" is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc. 2 "Rock Band" is a registered trademark of Viacom, Inc. As you can see, JamLegend has many strong advantages over the other well-known games but there are still many features yet to be implement that they may or may not have. Quick Tips * Notes with white sparkles on them do not need to be strummed. * Want to use different keys? Go to the options in the top right. * Having problems with 3 note chords on your keyboard? Just disable them in the options. Trivia * The company participated in the LaunchBox Digital 2008 summer cycle. * JamLegend Videos powered by Fliggo was released on Febuary 25, 2009. * On January 3, 2009, JamLegend reached 1 million plays. * On March 11, 2009, JamLegend reached 4 million plays. * Amazon Web Services are used for the sites data storage. * If you press the number 3 on your keyboard, it will play the Cowbell * On April 15, 2009, Canon Rock by Jerry C became the first song to reach 1 million plays. External Links